Morning

January 18

Genesis 17:17 ¹⁷Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"

18:12 ¹²So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

When the LORD came to Abraham, before the destruction of Sodom, He promised that Sarah would be the mother of the son of promise. Abraham had already had a son through Sarah's servant Hagar. He had "helped" God out by using a custom of the time. The help he gave God was going to end up being a great heartache. As children of God, we have customs that are different from those of the world around us. We are separated as citizens of heaven and need to live in the ways of our new culture and not that of this passing world.

When the LORD told Abraham that it was through Sarah that the promised child would be born, Abraham laughed at the thought of 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman having a child. When you think about it, it is kind of funny. But God delights in the impossible, so that we know it is God's doing and not man's.

When Sarah heard, she laughed too. The difference is that Sarah was laughing at God. God responded, "Is anything too hard for the LORD? Genesis 18:14 What can we learn from the two laughs? I think God delights for us to see how impossible it is for man to do something. Go ahead and laugh at the impossibility of what He has promised you. He has promised to make you into the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29) Ha ha ha! No man can do that! What a wild thing to do! Can you believe God would take a person like you or me and do such a thing? Sarah's laugh said, "No. It is not possible even for God!" God says, "Nothing is too hard for me! Watch and see, for in My time it will come to pass."

Meditation: The One who brought it pass for Abraham is the same capable God who promises to make you like His Son.